Thirty-seven days after his March 1933 inauguration, President D.
Franklin Roosevelt established the Civilian Conservation Corps to help
put men back to work during the Great Depression. Modeled after the
military, these corps of young men went to work on countless
conservation and land restoration projects across the country.

A
Virginian, Will Carson, chairman of the Virginia Commission on
Conservation and Development , convinced President Roosevelt that his
CCC boys would have a greater legacy if they were put to work building
state parks. This model not only built the first parks of the Virginia
State Park but also led to the development of state parks across the
country.

The CCC boys, however, never lost their
conservation focus. Here CCC members at Hungry Mother State Park
transplant Rhododendron.

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Editors note: Click here for a high resolution photo for this story. Other historic state park photos are also there.